ABSTRACT
The absence of the text of the “belle Genièvre” performed on the Queen’s Day is curious, given the high profile of both the event and its participants. It is also particularly unfortunate, since its recorded derivation marks it as the first known dramatic adaptation of Ludovico Ariosto’s celebrated romance epic, the Orlando furioso, in either France or Italy. There are, however, opportunities for reasonable speculation concerning the play itself and its context. Some of these will be explored in the following chapter, and the clues afforded by the various poems identified upon publication as connected with the performance will be followed in our Conclusion. In this chapter, the familiarity of the queen and members of her retinue with Italian courtly poetry will first lead us to Ferrara under the rule of the powerful Este family, where Ariosto was the foremost courtier-poet, and to consideration of the many links between Ferrara and France. The choice of the episode also gives rise to other provocative questions, addressed later in the chapter, which suggest that dynastic considerations and international politics played a role in determining a place for its performance at Fontainebleau.
